Cheap and Free Events in Dallas This Week

DSO Parks ConcertsMultiple Locations 8:15 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday Free The Dallas Symphony Orchestra doesn’t believe in making you wait until July to hear some epic Americana under the great wide open. And it doesn’t hold off on musical fireworks either. The DSO Parks Concerts bring fun, classical music to venues across Dallas with lively performances perfect for the whole family. The roster of works includes increasingly familiar tunes starting with Bernstein’s Candide Overture and Still’s Afro-American Symphony: 3rd Movement (Animato). Film favorite John Williams can be heard via his music from The Cowboys, Star Wars and Superman, and no concert in the park would be complete without some John Philip Sousa (“Washington Post March” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” naturally). Admission is free, and concerts start at 8:15 p.m. Shows are Tuesday, June 13, at Timberglen Park, 3810 Timberglen Road; Wednesday, June 14, at Kidd Springs Park, 700 W. Canty St.; and Thursday, June 15, at Paul Quinn College, 3837 Simpson Stuart Road. Visit mydso.com for more on the parks concerts. — Merritt Martin

Writer's Bloc Writing Workshop Deep Vellum Books 3000 Commerce St. 6-8 p.m. Wednesday Free Anyone who’s sat down at a computer and stared long enough at the blinking line knows the agony of writer’s block. It happens to every writer, from poets to fiction writers to journalists. Perhaps one method of remedying this creative frustration could be a glass or two of wine. But if you’re really looking to get some constructive feedback on existing work or newly conceived ideas, you need insight from other wordsmiths. And from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, writers cut from all cloths will meet at Deep Vellum Books, 3000 Commerce St., for the Writer’s Bloc writing workshop hosted by poet and writer Craig Nydick. This biweekly workshop aims to help anyone who needs to get his or her creative juices flowing. The event is free to attend, and more information can be found at the event’s Facebook page. — Diamond Victoria

"An Evening With! John Knott’s Cartoons with Ed Owens"Hall of State, Fair Park 3939 Grand Ave. 6:30 p.m. Thursday $10 During his time working for The Dallas Morning News from 1907-57, John Knott created many cartoons and characters, many of which were reprinted across America. But his “Old Man Texas” character was meant to represent rural property owners who desired low taxes along with honest politicians. Spend Friday night at the Hall of State in Fair Park, 3939 Grand Ave., with the Dallas Historical Society and its series installment “An Evening With! John Knott’s Cartoons with Ed Owens," starting at 6:30 p.m. The DHS has about a third of the 15,000 pieces from Knott’s lifetime of work, and the lecture will examine many of those pieces and the importance of Knott’s contributions to social and political commentary. Tickets are $10. Call 214-421-4500 or visit eventbrite.com. — Merritt Martin

Cursed Days 6Texas Theatre 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. 8 p.m. Thursday $6-$14 Do you wish there was something to snap you out of your natural state of complacency, but you don’t know anyone who sells angel dust? There’s a better and much safer way of weirding up your world. The Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff hosts a semi-regular movie and music series called Cursed Days, in which it pairs a strange film screening with an equally strange musical act for an evening of interesting weirdness. The Texas Theatre’s Cursed Days 6 will feature a screening of Paul W.S. Anderson’s beloved sci-fi horror film, Event Horizon, starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill as a space crew trapped on a ship with a horrific monster that’s been brought on board by a rip in the space-time continuum. The event will also feature live performances by some of Dallas’ most unusual musical acts, including Razorbumps, the New Science Projects, Seres and the Thyroids. Cursed Days 6 starts with the Event Horizon screening at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the film screening, $6 for the rock show and $14 for both and can be purchased at the box office or online at prekindle.com. — Danny Gallagher

Late Night Photo Walk Klyde Warren Park 2012 Woodall Rodgers Freeway 6:30 p.m. Friday Free So you’ve finally got that fancy new camera you’ve always wanted that isn’t a cellphone. The problem is you’ve got no idea what you should take a picture of. You’d take a photo of something in your house or apartment, but you can look at that stuff with your own two eyes, and social media is already filled with useless images of people’s children and meals. There’s a special event just for you. The Late Night Photo Walk takes aspiring photographers around the city’s Arts District to show them some of the unique sights they can capture with their cameras in the outdoor hustle and bustle of the Dallas nightlife and at exhibits at the Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Center. — Danny Gallagher

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Dallas Arts District Summer Block Party Flora Street 6 p.m.-midnight Friday Free Alert: Flora Street, the vital artery of the Dallas Arts District from One Arts Plaza to the Dallas Museum of Art, will be shut down. No need to bring signs and protests; bring your lawn blankets and comfy shoes. It’s the annual Summer Block Party. The free celebration joins together the big hitters of the DAD, including the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center and Klyde Warren Park, for a celebration of the arts and the walkable area in which to enjoy them. The Crow offers up the last couple of weeks of Landscape Relativities: The Collaborative Works of Arnold Chang and Michael Cherney, an exhibition that appeals to both photography buffs and fans of Chinese ink painting. For more information on the block party, visit dallasartsdistrict.org, and for more on the exhibition, visit crowcollection.org. — Merritt Martin

Identity: Digital SelfCentralTrak Artists Residency 800 Exposition Ave. 8 p.m. Saturday Free Bodies are strange things, and in the digital age, they’re only becoming stranger. This is the subject of UT Dallas artist and master of fine arts candidate Jessie Budd’s work. Identity politics and the exploration of the human body’s malleability in the 21st century are at the heart of Budd’s fascinating art. Through self-portraits, fragmentation and several mediums, including illustration, sculpture, video and photography, Budd seeks to better understand the way we interact with modernity and how that affects the unusual relationship among mind, body and the external world. In her highly personal artworks, forms are stretched, deconstructed and transformed into entirely new and radical entities as Budd works through the fundamental questions of what it means to be a living thing trapped in a one-by-one box of flesh and bone. UT Dallas invites you to explore Budd’s art at the opening night of the artist’s exhibition at CentralTrak’s Artists Residency location, 800 Exposition Ave. Refreshments will be provided. Admission is free. — Jonathan Patrick

Beer and Chips Art Festival Noble Rey Brewing Co. 2636 Farrington St. 12-7 p.m. Saturday Free Everyone likes chips, and almost everyone likes beer. However, there’s a secret relationship between these two carb-laden treats that only a few people know: They go great together. They complement each other so well that they would get married if they could. That’s why the Noble Rey Brewing Co. in Dallas will host a unique festival that puts these two treats from the culinary deities together the way they were always meant to be. This roaming art festival features exciting new works of art from 50 artists from around the country that are free for viewing; all you have to cover is the check for the beer and chips. The Beer and Chips Art Festival takes place at the Noble Rey Brewing Co., 2636 Farrington St. Admission is free. Visit noblereybrewing.com for more information. — Danny Gallagher

Arthur Pena – A Place for Everything Coach in NorthPark Center 8687 N. Central Expressway Through Sunday, June 25 Free Great art doesn’t come from painting what you can see. It comes from what you didn’t know you could see. Artist Arthur Peña, the co-founder of Deadbolt Studios and a visiting lecturer at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts, lets his paintings develop and be shaped as he moves from painting to painting. He lets each work guide the next as his subconscious plays with the canvas through his masterful skills. See how the exciting artist produces breathtaking works of abstract art in his exhibition A Place for Everything, No Time for Nothing, a painting series that took almost four years to produce. The leather-goods retailer Coach will showcase Peña’s latest exhibition from through Sunday, June 25, at its store in NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway. Admission is free. — Danny Gallagher